Coordinates: 36.237677° N 36.384838° EAlalakh, or Alalah, is the name of an ancient city and its associated city-state of the Amuq River valley, located in the Hatay region of southern Turkey near the city of Antakya (ancient Antioch), and now represented by an extensive city-mound known as Tell Atchana. Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... Hatay is a region in the middle east around the town of Iskenderun. ... Antakya (Antiokheia, Antakiya, ), located on the eastern side (left bank) of the Orontes River (in Turkish: Asi Nehri) about 20 miles from the sea, is the seat of Hatay Province, Turkey. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Antakya. ...

History

Alalakh was founded during the Middle Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC, as one of the first great cities of the Fertile Crescent. The first palace on the citadel of Alalakh was built c. 2000 BC, contemporary with the Third Dynasty of Ur. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. ... This map shows the extent of the Fertile Crescent. ... This article is about a type of fortification. ... (3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC) Events 2064 – 1986 BC -- Twin Dynasty wars in Egypt. ... For other uses, see Ur (disambiguation). ...

The written history of the site may begin under the name Alakhtum, with tablets from Mari in the 18th century BCE, when the city was part of the kingdom of Yamhad (modern Aleppo). A dossier of tablets records that King Sumu-epeh sold the territory of Alakhtum to his son-in-law Zimri-Lim, king of Mari, retaining for himself overlordship. After the fall of Mari in 1765 BCE, Alalakh seems to have come once again under the authority of Yamhad. King Abba-ili of Aleppo bestowed it upon his brother Yarim-Lim, in a reorganization of his empire that seems to have followed a revolt, and a dynasty of Yarim-Lin's descendents was founded, under the hegemony of Aleppo, that lasted to the very end of the 17th century (according to the middle chronology) at which time Alalakh was destroyed, most likely by Hittite king Hattusili I, in the second year of his campaigns. Mari may refer to: Ethnic Mari El, a republic of Russian Federation Mari language, Finno-Ugric language Mari people, a Volga-Finnic people People Mari (composer), a video game music composer Mari (singer), a female vocalist Saint Mari, a Christian saint Other Mari (goddess), the main divinity of pre-Christian... Yamhad (also written Jamhad or Yamkhad) was an ancient Amorite kingdom centered at Halab, Aleppo, in northern Syria. ... Aleppo (or Halab Arabic: , ) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate. ... Tablet of Zimri-Lin, ca. ... Relief of Suppiluliuma II, last known king of the Hittite Empire The Hittites were an ancient people from Kaneš who spoke an Indo-European language, and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa (Hittite URU) in north-central Anatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite... Labarna II was the first king of the Hittite empire to reign from Hattusa (while the earlier kings had been at Neša), and taking the throne name of Hattusili I on that occasion. ...

After a hiatus of less than a century, written records for Alalakh resume. At this time, it was again the seat of a local dynasty. Most of the information about the founding of this dynasty comes from a statue inscribed with what seems to be an autobiography of the dynasty's founding king. In linguistics, a corpus (plural corpora) or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts (now usually electronically stored and processed). ... Inscriptions are words or letters written, engraved, painted, or otherwise traced on a surface and can appear in contexts both small and monumental. ...

According to his inscription, in the first half of the 15th century, Idrimi, son of the king of Aleppo may have fled his city for Emar, traveled to Alalakh, gained control of the city, and been recognized as a vassal by Barattarna. The inscription records Idrimi's vicissitudes: after his family had been forced to flee to Emar, he left them and joined the "Hapiru people" in "Ammija in the land of Canaan", where the Hapiru recognized him as the "son of their overlord" and "gathered around him"; after living among them for seven years, he led his Habiru warriors in a successful attack by sea on Alalakh, where he became king. Idrimi was the king of Alalakh in the first half of the 15th century BC. Idrimi was a son of the king of Aleppo who had been deposed by the new regional master, Barattarna, king of the Mitanni. ... Barattarna, also spelled Parattarna, was a king of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni in the fifteenth century BC. He may also be identical to a king called Parsatatar. ... Habiru (Ha biru) or Apiru ( piru) ibrw (Egyptian ibr = horsemen w = plural) was the name given by various Sumerian, Egyptian, Akkadian, Hittite, Mitanni, and Ugaritic sources (dated, roughly, from before 2000 BC to around 1200 BC) to a group of people living as MAR TU or nomadic invaders in areas... // [[Image:]] Map of Canaan For other uses, see Canaan (disambiguation). ...

However, according to the site report, this statue was discovered in a level of occupation dating several centuries after the time that Idrimi lived, and there has been much scholarly debate as to its historicity. Nonetheless, archeologically dated tablets tell us that Niqmepuh was contemporaneous with the Mitanni king Saushtatar, which would seem to support the statue's claim that Idrimi was contemporaneous with Barattarna, Saushtatar's predecessor. Shaushtatar, also spelled Šauštatar, was a king of the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni in the fifteenth century BC. Shaushtatar was the son of Barattarna /Parsatatar and his seal was found in a letter from the archive of Nuzi. ...

The socio-economic history of Alalakh during the reign of Idrimi's son and grandson, Niqmepuh and Ilim-ilimma is well documented by tablets excavated from the site. Idrimi himself appears only rarely in these tablets.

In the mid-14th century, the Hittite Suppiluliuma I defeated king Tushratta of Mitanni and assumed control of northern Syria, including Alalakh, which he incorporated into the Hittite Empire. A tablet records his grant of much of Mukish's land (that is, Alalakh's) to Ugarit after the king of Ugarit alerted the Hittite king to a revolt by the kingdoms of Mukish, Nuhassa, and Niye. Alalakh was probably destroyed by the Peoples of the Sea in the 12th century, as were many other cities of coastal Anatolia and the Levant. The site was never reoccupied, the port of Al Mina taking its place during the Iron Age. Suppiluliuma I (Shuppiluliuma) was king of the Hittites (ca. ... Tushratta was a king of the Mitanni at the end of the reign of Amenhotep III and throughout the reign of Akhenaten -- approximately the late 14th century BC. He was the son of Shuttarna II, and his daughter Tadukhipa was married to Akhenaten. ... Kingdom of Mitanni Mitanni (cuneiform KUR URUMi-it-ta-ni, also Mittani Mi-ta-an-ni, in Assyrian sources Hanigalbat, Khanigalbat cuneiform Ḫa-ni-gal-bat ) was a Hurrian kingdom in northern Mesopotamia from ca. ... Hittites is the conventional English-language term for an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa (the modern village of Boğazköy in todayss north-central Turkey), through most of the second millennium BC. The Hittite kingdom, which at... Entrance to the Palace of Ugarit Ugarit (modern site Ras Shamra رأس شمرة; meaning top/head/cape of the wild fennel in Arabic) was an ancient cosmopolitan port city, sited on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria a few kilometers north of the modern city of Latakia. ... NuhaÅ¡Å¡e, also NuhaÅ¡Å¡a, was a territory in the Syrian region mentioned in various Middle Eastern documents. ... Niya, Niye, and also Niy of Thutmose Is Ancient Egypt, also Nii of the Amarna letters, and Nihe, etc. ... The Budgie People is the term used for a confederacy of seafaring raiders who sailed into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty, and especially during Year 8 of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty. ... The Levant The Levant (IPA: ) is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ... Al Mina, on the Aegean coast of northern Syria, in the estuary of the Orontes (near present-day Samandag) was one of the earliest Greek trading colonies, founded a little before 800 BCE, in direct competition with the Phoenicians to the south. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ...

Excavation

The remains of the city preserved by Tell Atchana were excavated by the British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in the years 1935-1939 and 1946-1949, during which palaces, temples, private houses and fortification walls were discovered, in 17 archaeological levels reaching from Chalcolithic (Level XVII, c.3400 –3100 BCE to Late Bronze Age (Level 0, 12th century BCE). Tell Mar Elias, North Jordan in 2005 Tell or tall (Arabic: ‎, tall, and Hebrew: , tel), meaning hill or mound, is an archaeological site in the form of an earthen mound that results from the accumulation and subsequent erosion of material deposited by human occupation over long periods of time. ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Sir Charles Leonard Woolley (17 April 1880–20 February 1960) was a British archaeologist, best known for his excavations at Ur in Sumerancient Mesopotamia. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Chalcolithic (Greek khalkos + lithos copper stone) period, also known as the Eneolithic (Aeneolithic) or Copper Age period, is a phase in the development of human culture in which the use of early metal tools appeared alongside the use of stone tools. ...

After several years' surveys, a University of Chicago team had its first full season of excavation in 2003. In 2004, the team had a study season in order to process finds. In 2006 the University of Chicago stoped sponsoring the project. The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ...

Excavations at Alalakh have produced a body of written material that demands comparisons to that from Mari and Ugarit. About five hundred cuneiform tablets were retrieved at Level VII, (Middle Bronze Age) and Level IV (Late Bronze Age). The inscribed statue of Idrimi, a king of Alalakh after c. 1500 BC, has given a unique autobiography of Idrimi's youth, his rise to power, and his military and other successes (now in the British Museum). Akkadian texts from Alalakh include a few word lists, astological omens and conjurations, but primarily consist of juridical tablets, which record the ruling family's control over land and the income that followed, and administrative documents, which record the flow of commodities in and out of the palace. Mari may refer to: Ethnic Mari El, a republic of Russian Federation Mari language, Finno-Ugric language Mari people, a Volga-Finnic people People Mari (composer), a video game music composer Mari (singer), a female vocalist Saint Mari, a Christian saint Other Mari (goddess), the main divinity of pre-Christian... Entrance to the Palace of Ugarit Ugarit (modern site Ras Shamra رأس شمرة; meaning top/head/cape of the wild fennel in Arabic) was an ancient cosmopolitan port city, sited on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria a few kilometers north of the modern city of Latakia. ... Centuries: 16th century BC - 15th century BC - 14th century BC Decades: 1450s BC 1440s BC 1430s BC 1420s BC 1410s BC - 1400s BC - 1390s BC 1380s BC 1370s BC 1360s BC 1350s BC Events and Trends Palace of Minos destroyed by fire (1400 BC) Several board games, including Alquerque, carved... The British Museum in London, England is one of the worlds greatest museums of human history and culture. ... Akkadian (lišānum akkadītum) was a Semitic language (part of the greater Afro-Asiatic language family) spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, particularly by the Assyrians and Babylonians. ...

References

• Donald J. Wiseman, 1953. The Alalakh Tablets, (London:British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara); reviewed by Joan Lines in American Journal of Archaeology 59.4 (October 1955) , pp. 331-332; Reprinted 1983 in series AMS Studies in Anthropology ISBN 0-404-18237-2
• Leonard Woolley, Alalakh, An Account of the Excavations at Telle Atchana, Oxford, 1955.
• Frank Zeeb, Die Palastwirtschaft in Altsyrien nach den spatbabylonischen Getreidelieferlisten aus Alalah (Schicht VII), Alter Orient und Altes Testament, no. 282. Munster: Ugart-Verlag, 2002.
• Marlies Heinz, Tell Atchana, Alalakh. Die Schichten VII-XVII, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1992.

Sir Charles Leonard Woolley (17 April 1880–20 February 1960) was a British archaeologist, best known for his excavations at Ur in Sumerancient Mesopotamia. ...

External links

• Alalakh: A Late Bronze Age Capital In The Amuq Valley, Southern Turkey
• Alalakh Notice and a basic bibliography.
• Stone guardian lions of Alalakh
• S. Riehl, "Late Bronze Age Tell Atchana" Archaeobotany at Tell Atchana (Tübingen University)